Welcome! This is a Game-Changer!

My first blog post ever! Welcome to ImmediateResponder.org. I will do my best to explain what this is all about, and this first posting will then serve as the main text explanation for a
page on this website called, "New to this site?"

﻿﻿On April 15, 2013, I was a volunteer
physician at the Boston Marathon Bombings. Amidst the chaotic scene, I was surrounded by blood, glass, metal shards, acrid-smelling smoke, anguish, and uncertainty. I did
not feel safe, and I thought I might die.

I cared for many people in many ways - triaged, bandaged, removed clothing, performed patient assessment, reassured & moved patients, helped coordinate other impromptu
rescuers, and looked out for the safety and well-being of other volunteers.

As an Emergency Physician who started volunteering as an EMT on an ambulance as a teenager, I had attended many, many hours and courses on emergency response, mass casualty incidents, disaster response, incident command, traumatic injuries, and more. Despite
my extensive training, I got as far as, "Is the scene safe?", and realized that NO, no it was not safe. I was in and surrounded by mayhem, smoke, biohazard, sharp objects, terrified
patients and bystanders and the risk of a criminal or terrorist amidst us. Where was the training on how to proceed in this situation? I was already IN the scene; there was no option
to, "Wait until the scene is safe." before entering. I chalked it up to the fact that a disaster is a disaster, and moved on.

After the event was an extraordinarily challenging experience. Although the general public and media broadly offered praise for the "first responders that ran right into the scene", there
is a reality that was not included in the discussion. A First Responder is someone, like Police, Fire, & EMS, who is on duty and responds into a scene with a clear mind, to bring calm
to the chaos, whether a house fire, heart attack, intoxicated driver, or a bombing. I've been a First Responder. If you ask any First Responder if a group of volunteer physicians,
nurses, medical students, physical therapists, and massage therapists are first responders, or the bystanders on the street, you will likely be told, "absolutely not". I do not disagree
with this, as the heroism of a First Responder requires dedication, training, preparation, and honorable selflessness, and the term should not be applied to just anyone. However, there IS
something special about the people, trained or non-trained, who immediately step up amidst chaos to try to protect or care for another victim. They are certainly more than "bystanders" because
they certainly do not just "stand by".

After experiencing, first-hand, what it is to be neither a bystander nor a first responder at the Boston Marathon bombings, I identified a glaring gap in the way we teach people about being
present at the very moment a disaster or incident goes down. It has become my passion to define, explain, and convince people of the importance of the concept of "Immediate Responder".
This website is one of the mechanisms I am using to spread the word, in order to give better care to the critically injured in the seconds and moments after their injuries, as well as
to the impromptu rescuers who offer great potential for life-saving care, but may be vulnerable to challenging risks and after effects related to their service.

For the past 2 years, I have been trying to put words to, and to understand, this feeling and this group of people. It is time to add a new vocabulary word to the world of emergency
response and disaster medicine...that of "Immediate Responder".

On a personal level, this is what I would say to anyone who identifies with the role of Immediate Responder:

Yes. Yes, you did enough. You did the right thing, given the circumstances, and you certainly DID
make a difference.